Oak Ridge Today

Y-12’s Edlund named DOE Facility Representative of the Year

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Jeff Edlund

Jeff Edlund

Jeff Edlund, who conducts day-to-day federal oversight of enriched uranium facility operations at the Y-12 National Security Complex, has been named the U.S. Department of Energy Facility Representative of the Year.

“Mr. Edlund represents the NNSA with a passion for the mission and a selflessness that puts the needs of the organization above his own,” said Geoff Beausoleil, manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office said. “He sets strong examples for both federal and contractor employees in the areas of safety, security, quality, mission delivery, and cost effectiveness. His leadership in the areas of conduct of operations oversight, NPO integration, and performance culture clearly exceed the normal expectations of Facility Representative Personnel.”

Edlund joined NPO in 2010 as part of the NNSA Future Leaders program. He worked as a safety basis and safety system oversight engineer before becoming a facility representative in February 2014. He received a Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. [Read more…]

Y‑12 receives six NNSA Sustainability Awards

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Y‑12 Waste Management’s proposed strategies for operations of the West End Treatment Facility (seen here) allowed processing of 718,000 gallons of production wastewater and eliminated generation of approximately 14,000 gallons of low-level radioactive waste sludge. (Photo courtesy Y-12)

Y‑12 Waste Management’s proposed strategies for operations of the West End Treatment Facility (seen here) allowed processing of 718,000 gallons of production wastewater and eliminated generation of approximately 14,000 gallons of low-level radioactive waste sludge. (Photo courtesy Y-12)

 

Site’s efforts earn half of 2016 honors

The National Nuclear Security Administration recently recognized the Y‑12 National Security Complex with six 2016 Sustainability Awards.

“Y‑12 has a long history of being recognized for their environmental accomplishments, and this year was no exception as acknowledged by U.S. Department of Energy Under Secretary for Nuclear Security and NNSA Administrator Lieutenant General Frank G. Klotz,” a press release said.

“I want to congratulate the winners of this year’s Sustainability Awards and recognize the team effort needed to implement environmentally responsible and sustainable operations and projects,” Klutz said. “NNSA will continue to build on these successes and pursue new and creative solutions as stewards of the environment and our enduring national security mission.” [Read more…]

Reichert: CNS hiring for more than 1,150 positions this fiscal year

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Michelle Reichert

Michelle Reichert

From CNS Connect with Michelle Reichert

The NNSA is planning for Pantex and Y-12 to perform a greater amount of mission work in the upcoming years. This increased workload will help ensure the safety and reliability of our nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile, provide capabilities to draw down global weapons inventory, reduce the spread of nuclear weapons and terrorism, and provide highly specialized fuel for the nuclear navy.

Pantex and Y-12 are two of our nation’s key production facilities, and we form the cornerstone of the U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise. While we always look to maximize your valuable skill sets to meet mission needs, our future mission success also requires creating new jobs.

As Morgan (Smith) mentioned when he shared the 9 in 90 list, we are completing the study and implementing the plan to address increased demand for our products and services in Fiscal Year 2017 and beyond. As a result of this plan, CNS is hiring for more than 1,150 positions this fiscal year. These new employees will include production, operations, and trades workers; security personnel; and science, engineering, and technology professionals, totaling 650 positions at Pantex and 500 positions at Y-12. To date (as of early March), we have successfully filled 507 positions. As part of our 9 in 90 Plan, we are striving to fill 300 positions within the next few months. [Read more…]

Y-12 finishes W69 warhead dismantlement work

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Short-Range-Attack-Missile-B-1B-Bomber-1987

Members of the 96th Munitions Maintenance Squadron use a weapons loader to move an inert AGM-69A Short Range Attack Missile, or SRAM, from underneath a B-1B bomber aircraft in 1987. (Photo courtesy NNSA)

 

Dismantlement of W69 canned subassemblies has been completed at the Y-12 National Security Complex, officials said Friday.

The W69 was the warhead for the short-range attack missile, or SRAM, and it was retired from the U.S. nuclear stockpile in 1992. The last W69 weapon was dismantled in 1999. The Y-12 site originally assembled the W69 canned subassemblies, or CSAs, in the 1970s and began disassembly in 2012.

“These weapons components have come full circle, considering Y-12 has been responsible for the assembly and disassembly of every secondary in the nation’s nuclear stockpile,” manager of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Production Office Geoff Beausoleil said, “With this successful dismantlement, we now can turn our focus to other systems to further modernize the stockpile.”

“The employees of Consolidated Nuclear Security are proud to have an integral role in accomplishing the NNSA’s nuclear weapon mission,” Consolidated Nuclear Security President and CEO Morgan Smith said. “The work done at Y-12 on the W69 is yet another example of the important role we play in supporting our nation and making the world a safer place.” [Read more…]

Y-12 reopens after man drives through gate, crashes into parking lot

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Y-12 National Security Complex Aerial View

The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is pictured above. (File photo)

 

Officials at the Y-12 National Security Complex have reopened the plant to employees following a temporary closure early Thursday morning after a person drove through the east gate of Y-12 at Scarboro Road and crashed his vehicle near a parking lot area.

The crash occurred at about 5:52 a.m. Thursday.

Y-12 security police officers responded and subsequently apprehended the man, who was then arrested by the Oak Ridge Police Department, a press release said. [Read more…]

Y-12 entrances closed due to ‘security situation’

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Y-12 National Security Complex Scarboro Road Entrance

The Scarboro Road entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above. (File photo/March 2014)

Note: This story was last updated at 10 a.m.

All entrances at the Y-12 National Security Complex have been closed due to a “security situation,” officials said Thursday morning.

Y-12 posted the announcement on social media.

“Entrance to the site will not be possible until further notice,” the announcement said.

A press release from the National Nuclear Security Administration said officials at Y-12 are responding to a law enforcement issue that has affected access to Y-12.

“The facility and its employees are safe and secure, and all entrances to the plant are closed,” the release said. [Read more…]

NNSA awards National Security Campus contract in KC to Honeywell FM&T

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National Security Campus in Kansas City

The NNSA National Security Campus in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo courtesy NNSA)

 

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Nuclear Security Administration on Friday announced the award to Honeywell Federal Manufacturing and Technologies LLC to be the management and operating contractor for the National Security Campus, or NSC, in Kansas City, Missouri.

“Our non-nuclear production capabilities are critical to our national security, and Honeywell FM&T represents the best value to the government,” NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz said.  “Honeywell has demonstrated excellent performance in advancing NNSA’s enduring mission at NSC, and this award creates workforce stability for another decade.”

The NSC is one of several production plants that are critical to the NNSA’s Stockpile Stewardship Program. The National Security Campus is responsible for manufacturing and procuring nonnuclear components for nuclear weapons, including electronic, mechanical, and engineered material components. It supports national laboratories, universities, and U.S. industry.

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Balajee named director of Cytogenetic Biodosimetry Lab at REAC/TS

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Adayabalam Balajee

Adayabalam Balajee

Research scientist brings more than 20 years of laboratory expertise to the position

Adayabalam Balajee has been named the director of the Cytogenetic Biodosimetry Laboratory, which is operated as part of the Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site, or REAC/TS, at the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.

In his new position, Balajee will manage the operations and staff at the CBL, which is one of only two labs in the U.S. where chromosome abnormality analysis is used for ionizing radiation dose assessment, a press release said. The process for this analysis starts with a blood sample from someone who a physician thinks may have been exposed to radiation.

Prior to joining the CBL, Balajee held the position of research scientist at the Center for Radiological Research, Department of Radiation Oncology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, where he had been employed since 1999. Balajee also spent five years as a visiting fellow at the Gerontology Research Center at the National Institutes of Health in Baltimore. [Read more…]

NNSA, IAEA hosting international nuclear material course at ORNL

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory Sign

The National Nuclear Security Administration and the International Atomic Energy Agency are hosting 35 representatives from 30 countries at Oak Ridge National Laboratory from April 26 to May 8 for an international training course on how to account for and control nuclear material.

It’s the 20th International Training Course, or ITC, on State Systems of Accounting for and Control of Nuclear Material, or SSACs.

NNSA and the IAEA co-sponsor the ITC to educate and train technical experts from around the world on how to properly account for nuclear materials used in their home countries. The first SSAC ITC in the United States was held in Richland, Washington, in 1979.  Since then, approximately 500 participants from 50 countries have completed the training. The ITC supports U.S. obligations under the U.S. Nuclear Nonproliferation Act of 1978. [Read more…]

DOE offers expanded public bus tours of federal sites in Oak Ridge

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DOE Public Bus Tour

Public bus tours of the U.S. Department of Energy’s facilities in Oak Ridge are now offered nine months of the year. (File photo courtesy DOE/Lynn Freeny)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s public bus tour of federal sites in Oak Ridge is now offered to visitors nine months out of the year, versus only summer months as in the past.

This popular tour of the 33,000-acre DOE Oak Ridge Reservation offers visitors a first-hand look at all of the DOE’s Oak Ridge facilities and provides historical commentary on the transformation of the Oak Ridge Reservation during the past 70-plus years.

The reservation-wide tour is a popular attraction for tourists visiting the area.  Since its inception in 1996, the DOE public tour program has attracted approximately 35,000 visitors from all 50 states. The three-hour DOE tour allows visitors to see the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation and learn about its rich history and how Oak Ridge became a secret city of 75,000 people with a mission to end World War II. [Read more…]

Morris named NPO assistant manager for environment, safety, health

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Susan Morris

Susan Morris

Susan Morris has been named assistant manager for environment, safety, health, and quality for the National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office. The NPO oversees work at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas.

Morris is responsible for oversight of contractor programs for health physics and radiological protection, industrial hygiene and occupational medicine, industrial safety, transportation safety, construction safety, chemical safety, fire protection, firearm safety, explosive safety, aviation safety, and quality assurance at the Pantex Plant and Y-12 National Security Complex, a press release said. She has more than 28 years of federal service.

Morris has had a broad range of responsibilities, including serving as the team leader and subject matter expert/program manager for industrial hygiene, occupational medicine, fire protection, and environmental programs, and she served as the Y-12 Site Office NEPA compliance officer, the release said. [Read more…]

Officials celebrate new bridge, road relocation, haul road for UPF at Y-12

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Bear Creek Road Extension and Bridge

Pictured above is the new Bear Creek Road extension and bridge on the west side of the Y-12 National Security Complex.

 

They called it their first major milestone: the completion of site readiness work, delivered on time and under budget. The work included the relocation of Bear Creek Road, a new bridge, and construction of a haul road.

It’s part of the project to build a Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex. UPF could replace World War II-era buildings at Y-12. The project has been capped at $6.5 billion, and it’s expected to be completed by 2025.

Federal officials and contractors celebrated the completion of the site readiness subproject in a Friday morning ceremony at Y-12. [Read more…]